Cath Escapes
by PhiL0Sophie
Summary: Basically Cath is waiting outside of Love Library for Levi to pick her up. Will she be there when he comes for her?
1. Chapter 1

Cath screamed so hard the noise grated against her throat.

"LEVI!" she screeched, hoping desperately that he would be just close enough to hear. The sound ripped through the still night air, and bounced off of the alley walls. Her attacker clamped his ruddy hand over her mouth, disabling Cath of her ability to make a noise. She clung to the lamppost she'd been waiting by with a feverish desperation; why, _why_ hadn't she just stayed home with Levi? She attempted to bite the man's hand, to kick him in the shin, to just get him _off_ of her. The struggle was useless. She knew that Levi was probably still another 5 minutes away, she had only just gotten off of the phone with him when she had been attacked. She had been waiting for him to walk her home from Love Library after studying for her biology class. He and Reagan had been too loud and distracting for her to be studying in her room, and Wren was hanging out with Jandro at the bowling alley, so she had had to go to the library.

Cath bit the man's hand as hard as she could in an attempt to get him off. For a second, his grip loosened,

"Argh!" he exclaimed under his breath "Ow"

In his second of hesitation Cath managed to wriggle her head free of his grip,

"LEVI! LEVI, SOMEONE HELP! PLEASE PLEASE HELP!" The library was closed, she was the last one out, and she knew that no one, no one could possibly come to her rescue now. She let out a sob, and aimed a messy kick at her attacker's groin. She missed, but she got his upper thigh. He let out a groan. She kept on kicking, trying to get him away from her. He caught one of her legs and twisted it, lifting it up slightly, so Cath fell to the ground. She smacked her head on the lamppost as she went, the impact rocking her brain. Against her will, she started to sob, properly sob, despite her attempts to hold it in, and wrapped her arms all the way round the lamppost as her attacker started to try and pull at her hips to get her off. She curled in a ball around the post and clung on for dear life. Again. The attacker bent forward and tried to grab her leg to unwind her but she kicked out, aiming for his dirt ridden face. Her heel caught on his nose, and blood seemingly exploded from his nose in response to the impact. He yelled angrily, and lunged at her. He wrenched her arms off of the lamppost and attempted to drag her off, but Cath's legs were now tightly fastened around it. She started to scream again. She screamed for Levi, Reagan, Wren, her dad, anybody else could think of, steadily turning hysterical. She even started praying in her head, making all sorts of promises that she probably wouldn't keep.

Suddenly, a yell tore through the street, "HEY!"

Cath's eyes flung open- for she had closed them in fear- and nearly cried with joy. She saw Levi running, barrelling toward her. Her attacker dropped her arms and ran crazily down the other end of the street, holding his nose, and down a dark alley. As Cath collapsed in a mess of tears and snot on the ground, Levi dropped to his knees and pulled her into his arms.

"We need to get you home" he said into her forehead, "You can tell me what happened there." Cath nodded, but still didn't move. Slowly, he stood up, her still in his arms, and carried her to her truck, which was at the end of the street. Cath assumed he'd jumped out at the sound of her screaming. On the way home, curled up in a tense ball, Cath wondered dazedly through consciousness, suddenly exhausted.

"Hey, Cath" Levi murmured, gently shaking her shoulder as her switched off the engine, "C'mon let's get you upstairs"

Cath nodded sleepily, and groggily made her way up to her room, with the help of Levi's arm wound tightly around her back, as if protecting her from anything else happening. At the closing of her dorm door, she buried her head into Levi's chest and wept, her eyes seemingly intent on drowning her dorm room in tears. Reagan sat in her chair, shocked, staring at the scene.

"What? What happened? Why do you have blood on your cheek Cath? And on your shoe…?" As Reagan stared at Cath, she seemed to gather roughly what must have happened, that Cath had been attacked, that she was not okay, and she should not ask her anymore questions. Levi lifted Cath up onto her dorm bed, and lay down next to her, scooping her into his arms, so she felt protected and safe.

"We'll talk about this tomorrow" said Levi,"You just sleep now."

Slowly, Cath started to calm down and drift off, she was so tired from the desperate clinging and crying and fear, that now she felt safe, all the energy leaked out of her. Soon, Levi seemed to fall asleep too. It was only Reagan that had trouble going to sleep that night,

"This totally breaks the ground rules" she muttered, rolling her eyes as she switched off the lights.


	2. Chapter 2

Cath woke up with a thumping headache, bleary eyes and a crusty nose. The sun was shooting right through her blinds and into her eyes. For a moment, she felt peaceful; and then the memories of the previous night came back, hitting her like a brick, and she ran to the bathroom to be sick. When it had finished she just knelt on her knees, sobbing quietly, clinging on to the edge of the toilet for support. Reagan came rushing in,

"Cath wha- eeeww that's gross Cath ugh. C'mon, get up and brush your teeth and clean yourself up," she said, helping Cath to her feet and getting her a flannel to wipe her face. She looked in the mirror above the sink, seeing the green-blue bruise on her forehead from the lamppost, and observed how much of a mess she looked- bruises, trails of blood, dried snot and crusty eyes covered her face.

"I'm sorry" Cath whimpered into the flannel after brushing her teeth.

"It's not your fault you're a mess Cath. Levi's gone to get you a coffee, he'll be back soon," Reagan said, tidying away scattered bits of clothes on the floor with her back to Cath. Cath nodded silently, even though Reagan couldn't see her, and padded over to her bed. She climbed up and tried to immerse herself in a book, to forget about last night. Small scenes of it kept running through her head; her breaking her attackers nose, his gross smile as he first tried to get her, smashing her head against the lamppost…

Levi burst into their room with their coffee and his signature smile. On seeing Cath was up, he handed Reagan her coffee and went and sat next to Cath giving her her coffee and wrapping his arms tight around her, her head against his chest, and asked,

"Cather, you ok?"

"I guess" she replied

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Levi, "If you don't that's fine, I probably wouldn't for a little bit"

"Well I don't mind I guess, as long as I only have to tell it once."

"That's fine sweetheart."

So, staring at her crossed legs the whole time, Cath began to tell them what happened, about her waiting for Levi and someone trying to pull her away from the lamppost, and her screaming and crying and falling, and breaking the guys nose, and Levi coming to rescue her. When she had finished, Reagan's eyes were wide and her mouth was hanging open, and Levi's eyes were shut and he was gritting his teeth.

"It's all my fault" said Levi after she was finished, "If I had just been _sooner-"_

Cath's head snapped up from looking at her legs and whipped round to face Levi "No it wasn't Levi, don't say that! It wasn't your fault" exclaimed Cath,

"Levi don't be a prick it's not your fault. Stop making Cath comfort you, she was the one it happened to" snapped Reagan

"No, it's ok I- "began Cath,

"No, Reagan's absolutely right Cather I'm sorry. Do you need anything?" interrupted a concerned Levi.

"I'm fine thanks, but if Wren asks can you guys explain?" said Cath, looking down at her legs again,

Levi smiled softly, "Sure thing sweetheart," unwrapping himself from around Cath, he said " Sorry, I need to run to work," he paused to leave a soft kiss on Cath's neck, "see you ladies later," he finished, sidling out of the door with his jacket. As a blush creeped up Cath's face, Reagan rolled her eyes and turned to her desk, saying "You guys need to get a room"


End file.
